CHINA'S PIRACY DILEMMA – U.S. ACTION VIA WTO?

https://www.freemarketnews.com ^ | Feb 15, 2005 | by Tim Brown

[FreeMarket1]

CHINA'S PIRACY DILEMMA – U.S. ACTION VIA WTO?

Feb 15, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.com

by Tim Brown

China’s protection of intellectual property rights is forefront in the news again. In January Vice-premier Wu Yi had told US officials and business people that China would need time to correct the problem of piracy. He provided huge numbers such as the confiscation of 10 billion pieces of fake goods as evidence that China is trying to solve the problem. According to a Newsweek article for the February 21 issue Beijing has been successful in eliminating pirated copies of its 2008 Olympics logo.

Now music, film and software producers in the states are calling for the US to take legal action against China through the World Trade Organization (WTO). They argue that the problem of piracy got worse in 2004 and the Chinese Government has been complicit in some cases. US commerce secretary Donald Evans has been quoted as saying, “The lack of tangible and real results creates skepticism at home about China's commitment.”

But Chinese authorities do not have a direct interest in most of the pirated goods in China. There is a large section of the population involved in the production and sale of fake goods. The Chinese government does have a direct interest in keeping the people here happy or at least subdued. They could allocate resources to crack down on piracy by arresting the offenders and confiscating their goods, if they chose to do so. Due to the large numbers of people involved in these industries this would have a deleterious effect on the government’s number one priority, stability. Eliminating piracy overnight would almost certainly lead to social unrest.

The government is also saddled with the problem of reeducating the public and the need to “save face”. For more than 60 years the public has been fed a steady diet of collectivist dogma in which all property is owned by everyone. Many of the people, who are trying to take advantage of capitalism, have difficulty acknowledging intellectual property rights. The government must reconcile its conflicting statements of socialism in the past with the opposite today, and at the same time try to maintain an appearance of legitimacy.

It becomes obvious that fake goods are readily available to anyone walking the streets of Shanghai. Foreigners can not ....................Full Article www.FreeMarketNews.com

[Glenn]

10 minutes on eBay will get you an education on China and knock-offs.

[Red Badger]

...For more than 60 years the public has been fed a steady diet of collectivist dogma in which all property is owned by everyone.

This also fits with the East Asian mindset (for centuries) that copying something that works well (or sells well) is not a crime or even to be thought of as bad. Indeed, it is encouraged........